Future of Azerbaijani wrestling: Hope or hurdles? Breakdown by Caliber.Az

In the small Bulgarian town of Samokov (population around 28,000), a major international sporting event, the U20 World Wrestling Championships, recently took place, lasting over a week. Young athletes competed in freestyle, women’s, and Greco-Roman wrestling. The Azerbaijani team had a strong showing, taking home a total of eight medals: one gold, two silver, and five bronze.

The only champion was Greco-Roman wrestler Ayhan Javadov in the 60 kg category. Ruzanna Mammadova (62 kg) and Turan Dashdamirov (55 kg) fell just short in the finals, earning silver medals. Vasif Baghirov (57 kg), Nurlan Agazade (70 kg), Yusif Dursunov (125 kg), Gunay Gurbanova (59 kg), and Farayim Mustafayev (67 kg) each claimed bronze.

Let’s start with the Greco-Roman team, or the "classical" style wrestlers, who delivered Azerbaijan’s only gold medal at the championships, along with one silver and two bronze ones. There were also a couple of near misses: Orkhan Hajiyev (87 kg) and Mazaim Mardanov (130 kg) made it to the bronze medal bouts through the repechage rounds but came up just short. In the end, it was Farayim Mustafayev (67 kg) who secured the team’s lone bronze in this discipline.

As a result, Azerbaijan finished 3rd in the overall team standings in Greco-Roman wrestling, earning 90 points with ten wrestlers competing.

How should their performance be assessed? Undoubtedly, if not outstanding, then certainly very satisfactory— winning four medals, including a gold, can hardly be considered a poor result. Especially considering that in the final, Turan Dashdamirov, who took silver, was almost robbed of his gold medal when the referees initially awarded him two points but then took them away. Otherwise, Azerbaijan would have had two golds, as champion Ayhan Javadov was simply outstanding, sweeping aside all his opponents on his way to the title.

Our youth women's wrestling team ranked among the top ten teams in the world — with one silver and one bronze medal, Azerbaijan scored 35 points and took 9th place in the team standings. The top three teams were Japan (165 points), India (140), and China (104).

Let’s recall that Ruzanna Mammadova (62 kg), one of the top contenders in her weight class, took silver for the team. She started the final match brilliantly, building a 6-0 lead, but unfortunately couldn’t maintain or extend her advantage. In the end, the Chinese wrestler caught up and tied the score at 6-6, which cost Ruzanna the gold.

Seventeen-year-old Gunay Gurbanova (59 kg) earned a bronze medal, although she had the potential to fight for gold. We hope that at the senior World Championships, she will at least match this achievement.

Our freestyle wrestlers, however, were a bit disappointing. Three bronze medals at the World Championships — won by Vasif Baghirov (57 kg), Nurlan Agazade (70 kg), and Yusif Dursunov (125 kg) — is not exactly something to be proud of for our national freestyle wrestling school, especially with a team of 10 athletes. That said, it’s worth noting that Azerbaijan outperformed all European countries and finished 4th in the team standings. Azerbaijan scored 71 points, behind only the USA (185), Kazakhstan (112), and Iran (111).

The result could have been better if Aghanazar Novruzov (74 kg) and Ravan Musaev (97 kg) hadn’t essentially bombed out of the championship, both losing in their second matches. Novruzov’s early exit is especially puzzling, given that he is a European Championships medalist and was considered one of the favorites in his weight class.

We’re confident that once the team returns to Baku, the coaching staff will conduct a thorough review of their performance — because, as we’ve said before, for Azerbaijani freestyle wrestling, any championship without a gold medal is seen as a failure. Wouldn’t you agree, gentlemen?

Vugar Vugarli, exclusively for Caliber.Az